Monthly Archives: September 2009

There is no bigger fan of Edge International than yours truly, and I’ve written before about my admiration for Edge’s outstanding work. I’ve also written of my admiration for Jordan Furlong, author of the brilliant Law21.ca blog. Today I learned that Jordan has joined Edge’s outstanding team. It’s like adding Wayne Gretzkey in his… Continue Reading

Ron Baker posted a long critique of the discussion on Lean. I wanted to comment on some of his arguments, so I have copied the post its entirety. My comments appear in caps within the body of Ron’s post below. Forgive this unorthodox approach, but it is the only way to create the proper context… Continue Reading

I received an email yesterday that began "Hi Patrick J." It caused a flashback to my childhood. When my mother was angry with me, she called me Patrick J. When she was really ticked off, she called me Patrick John. And when it was certain she was going to whip my sorry behind, it was… Continue Reading

Certain posts from In Search Of Perfect Client Service are posted on the Legal On Ramp discussion board. The comments by fellow "rampers" on my two recent posts on Lean, Lean Client Service and Update on Lean: Ron Baker Takes Issue have been so interesting that I am taking the liberty of posting them here; From… Continue Reading

Ron Baker is one of the leading thinkers on the issue of value billing. I take what he says very seriously. In response to my previous post on Lean Client Service, Ron posted a comment. Because comments tend to get buried or lost, I wanted to share his comment and offer a further… Continue Reading

I was listening to NPR today. There was a story about how Congress could not work on climate change legislation because it was focused on the health care debate. It reminded me of a time when I asked a colleague if we could schedule a meeting to discuss a new case, only to be told that… Continue Reading

Wikipedia defines "lean" this way: Lean manufacturing or lean production, which is often known simply as "Lean", is a production practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination. Working from the perspective of the… Continue Reading

Earlier today, I wrote about the "efforts" of Reed Smith, Mayer Brown and O’Melveny to "transform" themselves by offering their clients alternative fees. The reality is that the firms weren’t really doing anything. They simply had formed committees to look at alternative fees. Of course, anyone who has ever been in a big firm knows… Continue Reading

A lot of people have been wondering whether we had reached a "tipping point" on alternative fees and there is some evidence that we have. You see, when BigLaw starts talking the talk, it means they are playing catch-up. In the past few days, if you believe the headlines, Reed Smith, Mayer Brown ("Mayer Brown… Continue Reading

Valorem created an Advisory Board in May. The first meeting of the Advisory Board was Tuesday. It was well-attended (7 of 10) and was incredibly valuable. There really should be a better adjective–it was that good. We are so very thankful to our Board for their time and input. But my message here is simple. … Continue Reading

A couple of days ago, I wrote a post about lawyers refusing to take a position on something. I’ve gotten a lot of nice comments on …and on the other hand … and wanted to follow up with a short but important point. When you figure out what your real point is, the one hand you… Continue Reading

When speak before groups that include in-house lawyers or business people, I always ask at what level of certainty business decisions are made. The answers tend to range from 40% to 60%. There have been lower numbers, but I can’t recall any that were higher. A high degree of certainty is a luxury most business… Continue Reading

I love this article. Not because it mentions my friend and client, Jeff Carr (it quotes him liberally). Not because it mentions Valorem (it does). Not even because it ends by quoting my tweet (it does). I love it because of this sentence: "Alternative fee arrangements are like teenage sex. There’s a lot more people… Continue Reading

I am thrilled to be able to share with the world that Stuart Chanen has joined Valorem! Stuart is an incredibly accomplished litigator and adds immeasurably to our strength and creativity. Here is the press release we issued a short while ago: Stuart J. Chanen joins Valorem Law Group as Partner CHICAGO, August 31,… Continue Reading

About This Blog

In Search of Perfect Client Service provides expert commentary and actionable guidance on how lawyers and law firms can put their clients first and maximize their experience. Author Patrick Lamb, a partner with Valorem law group, also offers thoughts on best practices for law firm leadership and management.

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about patrick j. lamb

For over twenty-five years, Patrick has been representing business interests in toxic tort litigation, as well as representing buyers and sellers in post merger and acquisition disputes. He now spends much of his practice handling legacy liabilities, the intersection of those two practices.